The US Navy's hottest new ship and the centerpiece of its renewed focus on Asia isn't its largest vessel, or its most technologically advanced. But it has advantages that its bigger siblings lack! Text: AFP, AP Photo: Getty Images

USS Freedom

The 388-foot (118-meter) USS Freedom is small enough to move among the many islands and shallow waters of Southeast Asia, a trait that allows the US Navy to train alongside similar-sized vessels in the region's navies and build relationships with them. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

USS Freedom

The Freedom is equipped with guns and a helicopter and is designed to defend against small boats and other threats. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

USS Freedom

The littoral combat ship weighs less than half as much as a typical US destroyer and carries a crew of fewer than 100 sailors. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

US Navy's Hottest New ShipIn this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the USS Freedom littoral combat ship pulls into Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The USS Freedom, which is stopping in Hawaii on its way to a deployment to Singapore, has advantages bigger U.S. Navy ships lack.

USS Freedom

It measures about the length of one football field - a scale that will allow the US to join countries as a partner. Photo: AP

USS Freedom

The ship has blue and gray camouflage painted on its sides - designed to confuse hostile small boats and make it less visible from shore. Photo: AP

USS Freedom

The Navy will later have the option of swapping out its surface warfare equipment with so-called modules for hunting submarines and finding and disabling mines.

LCS platforms are designed to employ modular mission packages that can be configured for three separate purposes: surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare or mine countermeasures.

The US is building two dozen littoral combat ships in all. It eventually plans to use some of them to replace minesweepers operating out of Bahrain and Japan. Photo: AP

USS Freedom

The 388-foot (118-meter) USS Freedom is small enough to move among the many islands and shallow waters of Southeast Asia, a trait that allows the US Navy to train alongside similar-sized vessels in the region's navies and build relationships with them. Photo: AFP/Getty Images